"The thing about Temple of Love is that they should not sound like they do. The band’s name is a
surprise, too, considering where they come from. The quartet’s music seduces the romanticism of
’80 and ‘90s bands, those chorus pedals, flangers, otherworldly shimmering sounds and driving bass
lines that landed in the USA via the UK. But there’s something different about TOL. New Noise
Magazine heard it too: “The band has the dark moodiness of goth, but unlike most goth bands, their
song is full of big, powerful, dizzying, bluesy guitar solos. It definitely puts the ‘rock’ in ‘goth rock’…
their psychedelic music brings out a sense of adventure on the open road.”’ The Temple of Love are
Suzy Bravo (vocals), Steve Colca (guitar), Patrick “Scooch” Pascucci (drums), and Omega Unloved
(bass). They are members or exes of doom, metal, and punk cornerstones such as Witchcryer,
Destroyer of Light, Duel, and the So Unloved. Groups who are the opposite of “Temple” ( a place of
healing, tribute, revelation, sanctuary) and “of Love” ( literally, the opposite, of “Unloved”). Those
unsuspected contraries are why Temple of Love stands out. TOL writes ethereal, melody driven rock
that would make Siouxsie stand up and the Sisters of Mercy pay attention. At the same time, there is
a very American directness, urgency in Bravo’s lyrics:

In my dreams
In my wet sheets, I scream
To feel his touch again,
And I scream for more.

Like the lyrics, the band’s rhythm is unmistakably felt and seen. The juxtaposition between the air-
ness of flanger pedal and melody versus the concrete, in your face, lyric and rhythm makes Temple
of Love’s style their own. Definitely British influences are there to be heard, but once Bravo starts
leaning hard into Wendy O. Williams or Bessie Smith — you choose which — that’s when you hear
that Temple of Love offers more than only a sonic sacrifice to their influences. This group from
Roky Erikson’s side of Austin, Texas, is pushing their genre further. It’s their Southern gothic. “My
mother is a fish,” wrote ultimate Southern goth-er and patron saint, William Faulkner, in his novel
As I Lay Dying, Like TOL’s music, that line is abstraction without the context of the other pages. But
when the reader reaches that point of the book, and experiences the words in context, the meaning
is crystal clear. About being in TOL, Colca says, “I wanted to step out of my comfort zone in
writing songs. I’ve been a doom metal musician and songwriter for over a decade now.” After
walking so long in the valley of doom and making that place his comfort zone, it’s true irony that the
pop and melody of TOL is where he now finds danger. But then, light is dangerous. Would you
prefer to commit your acts of danger under the safety of darkness or the bright revelation of light?
Inside the Temple of Love, all the pain, elation, sex, and the wounds from all of it, are there to see,
hear, celebrate … and dance in the loud worship of Marshall amps cranked gloriously to the brink of
oblivion joy. Temple of Love recorded their forthcoming self-titled debut album at King Electric
Studios with the studio’s co-owner Roky Moon (credits include Gwar, The Sword). The album was
mastered by Alberto De Icaza (Clutch and King Crimson). It’s the immaculate desolation."

- Chet Weise (Thirdman Records & Books)